Enquirer: Is Didi the Next Davey?
Jon Erardi thinks back to 1970, remembering when the Reds called up a skinny rookie SS to start on a playoff contending team. He lays out a plan that would have the Reds trading Cozart away for a legit leadoff hitter and/or a closer, and have the Notorious Didi G take over at short. The plan is contingent on finding a cheap right-handed veteran SS that could platoon with Didi in year one, which shouldn't be too difficult. This is something that has been talked about a great deal this offseason, and likely will continue to be talked about until the hot stove season cools down, but it's an enviable position for the Reds to have two Major League ready short stops. They don't have a lot of money to spend, so trading from one of their few positions of strength is almost certainly necessary for them to fill the holes in the roster.
MiLB.com interviews Tony Cingrani
Tony C has a tete-a-tete with MiLB.com, discussing his rise from unheralded hurler to 57th ranked prospect in baseball. He concedes that his off-speed pitches are still a work in progress, and still needs to work on the command of them, but that's a far cry from an interview earlier this year where he said he just throws the ball and hopes it ends up in a good spot. It will be interesting to see what the organization decides to do with him, as his trade value may never be higher than it is right now.
Nate Silver weighs in on the AL MVP debate
Taking a break from politics, the newly crowned King of all Nerds makes the case for Mike Trout.
The argument on Trout’s behalf isn’t all that complicated: he provided the greater overall contribution to his team. Trout was a much better defensive player than Cabrera, and a much better base runner. And if Cabrera was the superior hitter, it wasn’t by nearly as much as the triple crown statistics might suggest.
FanGrpahs: Ryan Hanigan gets some Love
The Hani-man ranks number three in FanGraphs' list of ten best part time position players.
Doc: Dusty Baker is to blame for Frazier losing out on ROY
Of course he is, Doc. When all else fails, blame Dusty.